Dorothy Hamill - 1976 Olympics - Free Skate

Dorothy Hamill's Free Skate from the 1976 Olympics

[@theresastevenson5934]

I really miss Dorothy's lyrical style, aplomb, grace and elegance. It's like one movement flows into the other. What a joy to watch! As someone said earlier, these were the days when "artistry was more important than triple jumps."

[@BrettChandler-nn6un]

yes, one movement melts into the next. She definitely studied ballet :)

[@lindaterrell5535]

I’d forgotten how elegant her style was. I’d forgotten how elegant elegance is

[@scheckdj]

The Haircut that changed generations for years to come and her skating was refreshingly simple and beautiful.

[@carolemerckel3461]

I asked to have my hair cut the same way for my wedding back in the day!

[@BlueberryGirl723]

We went in to the beauty salons and asked for the Dorothy Hamill hair cut. That and the layered shag hair cut made famous by Farrah Fawcett were the best hair cuts I ever had. The styles looked great every time, and were easy to care for. Those were the best times.

[@jgionti3]

I was lucky enough to see this graceful Angel skate at the Providence civic center. It was utterly breath taking. She was absolutely amazing

[@jgilc2691]

I would stand behind the contour waiting to go on for our next production number in the Ice Capades and watch Dorothy skate. I'd get chills. Not because of rhe cold ice. Because of her performance. I seriously doubt that would happen today watching a quadruple jump. All Dorothy had to do was glide. Perfect positions. Always. Ahhhh....the beauty of FIGURE skating!

[@twilightblue8566]

Dorothy always skated with such good straight posture and was very precise. She was very good for way back in those days.

[@toddmurphy523]

Pure classical elegance. Before the triple axels, triple toe loop and triple lutz (in combination) that are now the center point of skating today.

[@rickram1961]

Old School Figure Skating at it's finest! Certainly miss those days! Dorothy's layback was a beauty!

[@rheawolfthal321]

This was when Figure Skating was at its best, when artistry was more important than jumps.

[@pumpupjam9648]

I could never forget Dorothy, skating to Korngold's music! Korngold, won several Oscar's for his music. To bad no one plays those classics anymore. She was so elegant skating like a feather at the 76 Olympic's. To me Korngold won that medal! Music from Captain Blood and Elizabeth and Essex (both had Erol Flynn and Elizabeth and Essex was Betty Davis.

[@allanfisch]

I love how underproduced the games used to be, it was ALL about the athletes...And how beautiful is this?

[@stephenbruce4052]

thank god she's not drunk the spins LOL XO

[@stormygayle9388]

@@stephenbruce4052 Double LOL 😂😂😂

[@jennifermoore8948]

Wonderful to see this again! Nothing like the nearly insane quad jumps the ladies are doing today, but Dorothy was grace, artistry, charm and Beatty on the ice! Her smile lit up the world!

[@clairelariviere3122]

Thank you thank you for the memories. Skating was better before the criterion based scoring

[@dmmchugh3714]

A beautiful era in figure skating - and no doping either.

[@whitneyrich9468]

I love her skates and she so peaceful !!

[@kathleenmullen9564]

This is real ice skating true athlete!!! Nancy Kerrigan cannot even hold a candle to this legend!!

[@ancientsgate]

Nancy Kerrigan? She was 20 years ago. How about Bradie Tennell? Compared to DH and NK, Bradie appeared really kind of raw, I was embarrassed for her and also for the fact that this was the best the US could send to the Olympics? My, how times change.

[@xland0xx]

Glad to see my cousin do well. 😄

[@clngfanflyr]

I had the biggest crush a 15 yr. old boy could have back then on Dorothy!.......now I'm 53 and I still remember!......what a sweetheart!

[@evoman1776]

I was 16...and my crush was bigger!

[@critter7052]

Ha ha ha ha, Mr. Dan6670, that's my story too; only i'm one year younger than you.

[@JG-kw7um]

I happen to think Miss Harding is very beautiful herself.

[@kaymuldoon3575]

Well, she was and still is a very beautiful lady.

[@ronronizetti2534]

Get in line boys, me too, at 15 yrs old had HUGE crush on Dorothy! - BUT - I went to work! I took up figure skating and ended up fulfilling my dreams to SKATE with Dorothy, AND proposed to her!!! O.k., yes - I'm still awaiting her answer SO I guess we know what it is 😁 STILL today she makes my heart skip a beat 💕

[@Eztliz]

I don’t care if this is not technically complicated. She’s still graceful enough that this performance holds up today. I swear a lot of skaters today can land amazing jumps and still look like they are running on the ice.

[@tomloft2000]

she already had the gold locked up.it was just a matter of staying on her feet.

[@carolpowers4077]

They look like they're running because they don't do the school figures anymore. That's where all the deep edges came from. I don't even bother watching the modern skaters for the most part. About the only one I like is Jason Brown.

[@erika6651]

​@@carolpowers4077 They're too busy quickly learning 3axels, quad, ridiculous spin contortions and overly complex footwork sequences to have the time to learn beautiful basic edging anymore. You don't need to do figures to do that, maybe just take some ice dancing lessons from a 70 years old Russian master lol. It honestly is sad what has been lost, and I blame it more on Code of Points than the lack of figures.

[@bigmacdaddy1234]

This is so much better than the skaters today. Dorothy shows grace and poise. Class act.

[@frederickflavell6942]

They're finishing spins were unprecedented

[@ttlovett134]

I used the see her on cereal boxes and heard her name all my life but I never knew what was the big deal. Thanks to KZbin I get to see what the big deal is. That was an outstanding performance.

[@AthenaisC]

The skate that launched a thousand hair cuts. What a talent and awesome ambassador for US skating. ❤

[@ancientsgate]

Beautiful. Ladylike. No glitz, just solid athletic ability, strong double jumps, pretty spins, etc. One thing I remember about Dorothy is that everyone wanted her wonderful hair, lol. Something I miss the flowers, thrown on the ice for the skater (they quit that because of stray petals that following skaters might fall because of. But anyway, those were the days!

[@LindyS1830]

That hair was so adorable. She was a beautiful skater, that layback near the end was perfection.

[@juanalmanza3536]

I am really mesmerized to see how skaters glide on the ice back in the days. That is because they had to learn to make figures. Thus, they had more edge control making them get more speed while skating.

[@shuranai]

+Juan Almanza Omg! I was about to comment the same thing

[@Person-mh6xq]

Actually, they had more speed because they were allowed to do more crossovers and less intricate transitions back in the day. Nothing to do with figures. (Love Dorothy Hamill. She’s an icon in the sport).

[@darreng8827]

I used to hate school figures, however now with the jump fest we have, i think that going back to them would better especially with the modern scoring system. I also miss the no vocals rule. If I have to hear Moulin Rouge or Phantom of The Opera, or Les Miserables one more time......... I think the school figures kept skaters honest to their craft.

[@ancientsgate]

Better than that AC-DC thing one of the Russian gals skated to the other night, and her all gussied up in leather and studs. Good god, what a noise.

[@lauraanderson3917]

Yes, the vocals are such a distraction.

[@scottw6704]

Totally agree @no vocals. It's SO distracting and I also am so sick of movie musicals!!!

[@boomerlady]

Wonderful!!! So strong and lovely.

[@octoberqueen4239]

skating competition sent me here, to see Dorothy Hamill again... her movements, the way she gestures with her arms, are so much more graceful than today's women skaters... they flap their arms like a bunch of ducks.

[@lindaterrell6104]

October Queen Skating was more ballet then

[@maryellengabler802]

Love love love her delayed axel. Don't see anyone do that anymore.

[@dkadkins6545]

Back when doing figures helped skaters have beautiful edge control.

[@bailinnumberguy]

She was America's sweetheart at these olympics and looked lovely on the ice. Women's figure skating certainly has come a long way since. As pointed out below, the degree of difficulty is orders of magnitude greater now than it was back then. Not surprising, competition always raises the bar over time.

[@Samantha1970]

Randy Bailin we've traded edge control for higher jumps and higher rotation counts in jumps. Anyone who watches this and remembers compulsory figures can see why they need to be taught and/or need to be brought back, her edges in her footwork and her edges going into and coming out of her jumps are perfect, even when shes off balance. You rarely see that today.

[@robynlbanks463]

She never landed a triple. Linda fratianne beat her in the 76 U.S nationals by landing two clean triples.

[@alanazarin7761]

Linda beat her in the free, but Dorothy won the overall title.

[@carolpayne827]

The entire difference between today and back then is that they had to spend YEARS perfecting their school figures. It was a large percentage of the total score and you could not win medals if your figures weren't perfect. So they simply didn't have time, once that was done, to progress to triple jumps. It couldn't happen. That's the difference and I haven't seen anyone mention that. Now the 6-year-olds are doing double jumps. They can because they don't have to perfect school figures. I'm glad that's true but it's in no way at all fair to compare Dorothy Hamill with Yulia Lipnitskaya!

[@Samantha1970]

Carol Payne we've traded edge control for higher jumps and higher rotation counts in jumps. Anyone who watches this and remembers compulsory figures can see why they need to be taught and/or need to be brought back, her edges in her footwork and her edges going into and coming out of her jumps are perfect, even when shes off balance. You rarely see that today. I prefer the old way, if I want to see a circus act I go to a circus.

[@npe1]

Totally agree - the lack of clean crisp edges in today's free skating leaves a lot to be desired. However, despite the lack of figures, today's ladies are no further advanced in jumps than Midori Ito, Tonya Harding, Kristi Yamaguchi or Liz Manley and let's remember all those ladies had to do figures at some stage in their skating lives.

[@Koloth2000]

Also notice a lack of combination jumps. Which are required today.

[@Koloth2000]

Oh and Peggy Fleming was the master of school figures.

[@alanazarin7761]

I don't think today's jumps are higher - they cram more rotations in, but other than the truly great jumpers like Yu-Na Kim the jumps are not as expansive or fast across the ice. I'd almost rather watch a double axel at top speed from Dorothy Hamill than another four-mile-an-hour, arm-over-head triple from the current crop.

[@davidhaley8542]

Most skaters and fans of figure skating consider 1976 as the beginning of a transformation of the sport into an integration of athleticism and artistry. Many of us thought that the ladies had the artistic touch and that the men had the athleticism. Watching this again (Dorothy sparked my first interest in figure skating), I suddenly realize that the MEN drove BOTH the artistic development of figure skating AND its athleticism. Dorothy's short and long programs (both highly athletic) appeared quite pedestrian when compared to the programs John Curry and Toller Cranston presented, all four of these two men's programs had transcendant artistry and superior athleticism. I find this quite a revelation looking back after all these years.

[@InfernoBLK72]

Great observation. Dorthy was never known for having great artistry, she was renowned for her athletic ability and edge quality. She came better at artistry when she went professional. Her coach Carlo Fassi felt that it was best to push the sport forward for women by emphasizing her athletic strength. Did you notice how high her double axel was in both programs--no other woman jumped that high in 1976. She had a combination of both presentation and athletic ability--she glided across the ice as if she were flying. There was never any tension or struggle with her--just silent edges, speed, good presentation, and great jumps. She was also capable of doing a triple-toe loop but didn't have to because her technique was superior to her competitors. Carlo Fassi said that she raised the level for women in the sport and that Debi Thomas's athletic style of skating reminded him of Dorthy.

[@3l3llala13]

The same can be said for the period from 1977 - 1980. Men like Cousins and Tickner had complicated choreography in addition to the tough triples, but the top women like Fratianne and Poetzch were doing uncomplicated, even boring programs.

[@3l3llala13]

@@InfernoBLK72 Dorothy 1974 National LP was beautifully choreographed with a lot of transitions. But she decided to go back to a simpler previous LP for Worlds that year. Dorothy never again had a LP as beautifully complex as that 74 National LP. I guess she and her coach just wanted to make sure that they could guarantee a clean performance since she had a step out on a double axel in 74.

[@InfernoBLK72]

@@3l3llala13 By 1976 what Dorthy did in 1974 would not have won the Olympic or world gold medals. The sport had evolved with women like East German Christine Eaarth doing triple-double combinations, and American Linda Fratiane doing 3 triple jumps. Dorothy was capable of doing triple jumps but not in combination so Carlo Fassi made the decision to concentrate on consistency in all 3 phases of the competition. She finished 2nd in compulsory figures, 1st short program, and 1st long program to win Olympic Gold. Remember during that time figures counted for 30% of total score. Dorothy concentrated on precision, athleticism, and presentation to win.

[@susiepittman601]

So beautiful.

[@iblunder]

very smooth on the ice, don't see that these days

[@kyokogodai-ir6hy]

Such grace and beauty. Wonderful skater! And so humble. Love her so much :)

[@critter7052]

Dorothy was so cute back in the day!

[@evoman1776]

I was a young teenager watching her and thought she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen.

[@eleanorjpoindexter4299]

Still very striking and elegant!

[@LadyGambit33]

Thanks for this!! I always loved watching her skate...

[@123samanthastar]

She’s amazing

[@maddyperez6716]

It's amazing to see Olympic ice skaters in the 1970's compared to ice skaters today.

[@kylerobin6718]

Dorothy maintained her speed throughout and was very polished.

[@windowshoppingwithjulie6664]

1. Happy days in it's 4th. Season 2. Charlie's angel got started 3. Laverne and Shirley got started 4. Rocky came out 5. Carrie came out. 6 mash was on 7. The waltons was in it's 5th. Season 8. Paul McCartney's songs silly love songs and let them in 9. Summer Olympics in canada

[@nancyfintak2728]

julie vazquez Rocky and Carrie both "came out?" I didn't know they were in 😉

[@Marcel_Audubon]

you forgot about the Bicentennial

[@phillipsmom6252]

julie vazquez ...... Nadia scores the first ever perfect score in gymnastics. I watched it, I was in high school. 😀

[@mr.wigglemunch3856]

Ross Geller got me here

[@firebird6522]

So nice not to have the announcers talking over everything and it's also nice not to see all the advertising on the sides.

[@catboxcleaner3532]

firebird65 Yes, I agree. Lovely

[@pumpupjam54]

She skated to Erich Von Maria's Korngold's Oscar winning music. I think that is from movie Elizabeth and Essex. Wish more skaters play that kind of music instead of crazy music that make one want to jump out of seat and knock them down!

[@matthewjameshall2145]

Great skate. Second double axle butter.

[@echosen121]

I love how back then you can throw flowers and not like nowadays where they think it's a bomb 🤦‍♂️

[@henryclark9256]

I had a huge crush on this beautiful woman.

[@vasilisakojina447]

Дороти очаровательна 🌹!

[@bethanycook8430]

I like her technique on her jumps!

[@vgovger4373]

She does a lot of spin jumps, they do them now but in series.

[@colleenshaughnessy7081]

Her speed is really good.

[@pumpupjam54]

Some of the same music from movie Robin Hood! Fantastic.

[@barkingtree88]

Actually, this is the soundtrack from the movie Captain Blood (1935)

[@ROBYNMARKOW]

I had her Haircut.( unfortunately my hair is v.wavy & so after I washed my hair I could never get it to look the same-this was before I discovered Straightening Irons) One of my favorite skaters as well👍

[@kaymuldoon3575]

I remember how her haircut became popular that year.

[@Koloth2000]

Loved her hair. She was probably one of the most athletic female skaters.

[@lindaterrell6104]

Koloth2000 Her hairdo became quite popular. I wore a version of it. Very easy care

[@russcohen3779]

Thanyou forthis

[@beaverstandig1747]

Was and is the best

[@drahmedelsheikh1861]

ROS BROUGHT ME HERE:D

[@nancyfintak2728]

Watching this, I feel like the performance and the music are disjointed and don't connect together. Watching the 2018 games ad-nauseam the last few days, I find the music choices to be an important component in the competitions. I think there has to be a mastery of both athleticism and artistry to be a champion now. An emphasis on either one or the other doesn't cut it anymore. The skaters I've been impressed with have training in ballet also. It enhances artistry and involves discipline. I know we're discussing Women's single skaters here, but a perfect example of a complete program in figure skating is the performances of Tai Babylonia and Randy Gardner in 1979-80. Their pull-Arabians have not been matched, their physical strength was masterful AND beautiful. Go back and watch them. It's amazing!

[@ancientsgate]

Nowadays it's mostly just a jumping contest, who can out-jump whom, especially with tricks added in, like arms over the head during the Lutz, etc., and every single woman doing one of those Biel spins with the foot back over the head, handing onto the skate blade. Also the latest costumes are very expensive glitzy glittery things ("Look at me!! Aren't I a princess?") But I suppose it's the nature of things to change and evolve over the decades. This performance by DH was 42 years ago-- a couple of lifetimes for the kids who are skating now.

[@waynehentley4332]

Disjointed? Nonsense!

[@zoemcelroy7442]

I hope to be like her one day. I can barely land my single flip, though. So it will be a while.

[@Tall-Cool-Drink]

can some please digitalize this?

[@sgsmozart]

Her layback spin became better as she aged. Here the free leg could have been more extended ...

[@babymoondancer]

Awww, she's so lovely. I wonder if her brother Luke Skywalker is watching her. *lol*

[@bridgettesalcido392]

Aubrey Hart I thought the same thing when I was a kid haaaaa! And yes I had the hair cut!

[@baritonebynight]

And she's still skating at age 58....

[@alanazarin7761]

Katarina skated in the Olympics in 1994, not 2004. 1994 was the only Olympics that allowed pro skaters to reinstate for the season. I think she was 28, not 45!

[@baritonebynight]

Eren Mori. You should get your facts straight. There were no Winter Olympics in 2004. She did skate in the 1994 Olympics knowing that she wouldn't reach the podium as her repertoire of triple jumps had diminished since her prime. She stopped skating in public in 2008 at the age 43. None of which has anything to do with Dorothy Hamill's longevity in the sport.

[@ADEAL918]

@@baritonebynight actually Witt’s jumps hadn’t really diminished at all. She just never had routinely performed the jumps that became routine for most women to do after ‘88. She worked on a triple flip early in her career but was never consistent with it (didn’t need to be at the time because hardly any women were landing it) and never did the Lutz. Without those jumps, she couldn’t hope to compete for a medal in ‘94. But the jumps she had always done, she was still doing well even at 28.

[@lauradowling1604]

And the hair style I had for the next two years lol

[@chimiller7571]

With the way judging has changed, we've now got young girls doing triple combinations in the second half of their programs. I wouldn't be surprised if in the next 4 years or so we'll see girls attempting quads.There are going to be a lot of skaters with hip problems later in life.

[@danaanthereal3687]

the Russian junior girls are already landing quads. Doubt we will even see Evgenia or Alina at the next one; they will be 'aged out' by their juniors.

[@danaanthereal3687]

Not sure to whom or what you are referring, but in my country any female under the age of 15 is not considered a grown woman.

[@danaanthereal3687]

ahh so you just want to argue for the sake of argument.

[@candysmith8724]

I was 5 years old....Dorthy Hamill was the star of that Olympics....everyone wanted her cute bob haircut and ice skates! Back when Olympic Athletes were gracious and All-American good role models. Not like many of the embarassing idiots you see today.

[@cynthiag6243]

You can see the difference in skaters that studied ballet.

[@chestermarcol3831]

Goodness, Dorothy had some junk in the trunk. Nice caboose.

[@vaskylark]

Her hair became the biggest haircut and every little girl back then had it. I did and it looked terrible on me but I had to have it just like every other girl lol

[@chichillguy]

todays female and male skaters dont approach the speed of 70s skaters/ the first thing that is judged is speed speed speed. Dorothy had plenty of that.if todays skaters were told that they could only perform doubles , i question whether their style and edge control would improve/ different training/both valid.

[@billy98102]

that first axel is just breathtaking!

[@quentin3330]

Was Dorothy better than say Linda Fratianne? And if so, by alot or was Fratianne quite good too?

[@twilightblue8566]

Dorothy had more personality on the ice.

[@jfluter]

I'm not even on single rotation jumps yet!

[@GingerGilligan]

Her hair WAS cute! Nowadays all the skaters have the same boring bun.

[@likhadolly]

GingerGilligan agree lol

[@prowelsh56]

Carlso Facci....xxx

[@johnpcomposer]

Notice the beautiful stillness of her arms and the straightness of her back and posture whether she's stroking or going into or out of a jump...she's never out of position....Today there is so much pointless arm waving as rather than using footwork and choreography (interesting field moves) skaters are interpreting too much with their arms...especially in the absence of dramatic, rhythmically dynamic music. With the arrival of songs and the use of basically static mood music pieces, almost none of the moves coincide with a musical event and the element of timing a move to music and the risk of being off has been completely removed from skating and thus the programs feel like cookie cutter templates, have low dramatic impact. The staging of jumps is done to maximize points, not to coincide with music. If it keeps going we'll go full circle and we'll just have no music and like school figures done in silence, we'll have skaters just going up and down the ice seeing how many clean jumps they can pull off in 2 minutes. They'll have to do a toe loop, loop, salchow, flip, Lutz and Axel jump.

[@jimc6154]

If anyone ever has to ask again who would win the following I will explode. (1) The 1966 Packers vs the 2013 Seahawks. (2) The 1968 Celtics vs The 1996 Bulls. (3) Dorothy Hamill vs Julia Lipnitskaia. You people who think that somehow the past athletes are better then todays are INSANE! It's like you are trying to compare the candle vs the light bulb, as if the candle was better. This performance by Dorothy Hamill would not even make Juniors today. But for it's time, I loved it.

[@Dcofycats]

I agree with you in theory, but more complicated does not have a equal sign between it and better. I loved watching skating then and I love it now. But the emphasis on artistry did make it beautiful. Today there's thispiece in it that appears pushed towards difficulty that, in my opinion takes away the effortless way this sport used to be enjoyable to watch

[@petezereeah517]

Damn Man....that was cold. Time moves on., but we don't blast ass on the people that do it.

[@jimc6154]

Pete Zereeah I didn't blast ass on the people that do it, I blasted ass on the people that say it was the best. Yes, those single a double jumps were awesome. Great video by the way.

[@jimc6154]

David Coffey But David, Dorothy Hamill had to make those single and double jumps. The difference today is the singles and doubles have become doubles and triples. The "equal sign" is still in play. Adelina Sotnikova is prof of that. To actually state that the single and double jumps in 1976 were less important then today is "INSANE". As if by doing single jumps lead to a more "artistic" program....??? Adelina Sotnikova....Just proved you wrong.

[@jondavwal13]

However, Ito and Yamaguchi would still be able to compete today and Ito would win. The sport has gone nowhere in 20 years in the ladies event and the code of points has only made worse.

[@unknown-lf6zx]

How many people had her haircut? It only looked good on DH 😂

[@user-db9qf3re1r]

Удивительно,но техника катания(выполнение элементов,скорость),внешний вид(короткая стрижка,скромность и лаконичность костюма) очень сильно напоминает Роднину.

[@SasaSasa-xg6sk]

عامرأبوالنور

[@dddaavvviiiddd6800]

Mark Hamil? Look at your sister.

[@KyleKnappTenor]

Her double axel was so huge that if she’d trained 20 or 30 years later I bet she could’ve had a triple.

[@waynehentley4332]

I doubt it!!

[@lexismith8325]

I wish I was a skater in the 70s. I'd win Olympic gold.

[@captainh3831]

She was a real cutie - wonderful perky butt, great legs and a pretty face and a great performer.

[@kentky95]

It's funny now how great she was thought to be then without any triple jumps.

[@triciayoungblood4480]

Notice the Russian announcer wasn't happy. Dorothy did her job well.

[@tempika]

He was happy and praised her a lot.

[@vistaprime]

did anyone fall on these easy jumps back in the day. I wouldn't have been a fan it's not the lack of triple jumps, but the programs back then don't make any sense to me. They lacked a theme and intricate connecting steps. I do give kudos for ice coverage and lines, but still not a fan of old figure skating with figures.

[@alanazarin7761]

Before triples if you fell in competition it was considered a disaster.

[@death2pc]

Schools are easy, right................? Right..............? You're really knowledgeable and obviously experienced.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

this has nothing to do with figures, that competition was held separately before the free skate

[@danaanthereal3687]

before the new scoring if you fell it was HUGE. You didn't get 'points for trying'. It was a purer sport then. It's a shame the judges could not be trusted. The sport now is all about back filling your program with jumps. :(

[@IndianOutlaw1870]

Janet Lynn fell in the 1972 Olympics and it cost her a gold medal. She came in third.

[@user-yb6wy3vb6d]

Как же раньше приятно было смотреть на фигуристов их костюмы, а щас не пойми что как будто кошки драли безвкусица полная, да и сами номера не очем по моему перебарщивают со сложностью, танцы должны быть танцами

[@hollyb8275]

Ever wonder why women athletes have to look sexy as well as be athletic? Think skating, sand volleyball, gymnadtics, etc?

[@user-vc6fl8mf7u]

Не помню эту фигуристку

[@Person-mh6xq]

What’s the point of your post?! Dorothy is a skating legend.

[@waynehentley4332]

That's your problem! She's remembered and loved by many!

[@zenfan1098]

Geez her eyes must have been Real bad, or she just squinted for attention🤓

[@waynehentley4332]

She was very short-sighted!!

[@UFCtrumpsboxing]

lot easier back then

[@robynlbanks463]

That real story here is that hamill lost the U.S. Figure skating championships that year to Linda fratianne who won by landing two triples. Hamill was the last skater to win an Olympics without a triple. She could never land one and had she been competing just a few years later she would never have made it. I don't understand why people,consider her a sporting legend.

[@phillipphillps9719]

She didnt lose the freeskate actually. She won the free skating round as well. Maybe she shouldnt have but she did.

[@phillipphillps9719]

Since the quality of her skating was astounding and only grew as a pro. Fratianne was a boring and forgettable skater, who could never match up to Hamill. Thank goodness she lost the Olympics to Poetzsch, ensuring she would be all but forgotten, minus her whiny bitch of a mom (who died, YAAAH) and annoying asshole of a coach whining about her loss ad nauseum forever.

[@Marcel_Audubon]

because she wasn't competing a few years later, dearie, she was competing in 1976 p.s. Linda Fratianne has been forgotten by history, Dorothy Hamill hasn't

[@danaanthereal3687]

...which goes to show that history does not necessarily remember the winners in this sport. It remembers the ones that inspire. I would wager that what people will remember is Evgenia, and Mirai more than the girl that won this year in pyeongchang They inspire. Just like Dorothy did.

[@waynehentley4332]

Dorothy won those championships actually! It wasn't her best but she won the gold. Watch it again!!

[@shihlin1]

I thought I was watching an amateur skate from the local rink. A skate like this today wouldn't even qualify for the Olympics. Dorothy Hamill is lucky she competed 40 years ago and she knows it.

[@GingerGilligan]

Of course sports progress over the decades. But Dorothy had her basics down, she didn't need a slew of triple jumps to be amazing.

[@Person-mh6xq]

Boo to your comment. Progress applies to virtually every sport over time. Things progress and records are broken. You speak as though you are totally unaware of this.

[@streetfightnman1969]

You can’t compare ! She was the best of her time . Example Scott Hamilton did not do all the triples to win the Olympic a in 84 . No loop and stepped out of the flip. My first year in Jr in 86 I did all the triples except axel. The next year I did triple axel . It’s funny that you said she know it ? Knows what ? She was better than Burge , fratianne etc

[@Person-mh6xq]

@@streetfightnman1969 agreed…and well said!

[@sjordan9586]

How rude. She was excellent for her time and had more grace and artistry than the 15 yr old jump bots of today.

[@e.i.3077]

Boring. Considering how famous she is I’m surprised at how underwhelming and uninspired her famous Olympic moment is, even when compared to her contemporaries only. Coming from John Curry’s magnificent performance in that same competition this is just a bunch of crossover set ups from one element to another, and the elements aren’t even that difficult to be impressive on their own.

[@OdreyHep]

OMG! What an incredibly boring skate it was!

[@waynehentley4332]

Not as boring as you!!

[@OdreyHep]

@@waynehentley4332 Funny)

[@3l3llala13]

This performance was in 1976. It is technically less demanding than what the current skaters are doing on the ice, but It was more than good enough back then. Dorothy didn't win over the judges because of her jumps; she won them over with overall beautiful skating skills, presentation, carriage, and charisma.

[@e.i.3077]

Boring. Considering how famous she is I’m surprised at how underwhelming and uninspired her famous Olympic moment is, even when compared to her contemporaries only. Coming from John Curry’s magnificent performance in that same competition this is just a bunch of crossover set ups from one element to another, and the elements aren’t even that difficult to be impressive on their own.